– the publicity said. This whetted the appetite of a large crowd of people in our church on Saturday 5th February. John Clift, our musical director, organised the day. That sentence disguises the amount of work that had to be done to make the event a success. Music was hired, chairs moved from the cottages, instrumentalists sought, soloists were asked to perform, tea, coffee and biscuits were provided, and helpers to serve them in the cottages, programmes printed, pre-publicity in the form of posters and flyers made available and much more.
Those who turned up for the afternoon rehearsal came from Churchdown Choral Society (being rehearsed this term by John Clift), our own church choir and members of our congregation and other friends. There were about 70 singers and 10 players. We were all very pleased at these numbers even though our facilities in the cottages were severely tested!
The rehearsal was very enjoyable – some knew the music and some didn’t, creating an interesting gathering. In the evening we gave a concert performance and were relieved and pleased that we attracted an audience! The performance of the Vivaldi Gloria was mixed – at least I can only speak for the sopranos who ‘lost it’ several times, but it was all attacked with great gusto!
The rest of the programme was made up of two church anthems, both well-known, and songs and arias. For soloists we had our own Melanie Smallwood, John, Sarah and Alice Wilman, and Chris Hammant. Visiting performers were a guitar and voice duo – Owen McNair and Charles Cox, with pieces by Dowland and Britten. All these made up a talented group greatly enjoyed by the audience and the choir.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the afternoon and evening and we hope that there will be another one coming in due course.
We are lucky indeed at St. Peter’s to have talented musicians worshipping with us and a choir which is being so well-trained. We went through a worrying period when we had no director of music but we were thrilled to be able to appoint John Clift who brings to us the warmth of his personality, his ability to relate to his choir in a positive way and his undoubted musical talent. Thank you, John, for all this and for the singing day! We look forward to the next time!
Audrey Turner